


Innocent Sin - The Novelization

by HelenTheMoon



Category: Persona 2, Persona Series, Shin Megami Tensei Series
Genre: Altered Mental States, Canon Compliant, Canon Queer Character, Childhood Trauma, Cross-Posted on Tumblr, Multi, Novelization, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Psychological Trauma, Trauma
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-14
Updated: 2020-05-29
Packaged: 2021-03-02 02:20:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 11,306
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23647612
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HelenTheMoon/pseuds/HelenTheMoon
Summary: First, there was Fire... It's burning him from the inside.I know Unbreakable Tie is out there, but you'll find this one quite different, and hopefully you'll like it.Story subject to editing. Expect irregular updates.Please, read and review!
Comments: 4
Kudos: 13





	1. A New Challenger Appears!

_The night is still, the streets are quiet_

_In this house lived my Love;_

_She left the town long before,_

_Yet her house is still standing in the same place._

_There I also see a man standing and staring into the heavens,_

_Wringing his hands in violent grief._

_I shudder when I behold his face;_

_The moon reveals me to my own likeness._

_You Doppelganger, you pale companion!_

_Why do you mimic my lovesickness,_

_That tormented me at this place,_

_For so many nights in the past?_

* * *

Monday, 2nd of August, 1999

The breeze was soft. The soft yet sharp chirps of the birds were the only sounds that could be heard, drowning out the traffic beyond, as little as it was. The square building cast a long, black shadow as the golden, hot sun of August’s afternoon lazily started to set at the horizon. Night was always coming soon, with the mountains surrounding this city, no matter what the season was.

Serenity.

Just as he liked it.

The young man basked in the heat of the sun as he set upon the task before him. His motorcycle had broken down, though this was hardly surprising, considering he bought it with money from his part-time job from a second hand shop. With his brother’s money, he could have bought a better one but…

No matter. He liked this one. It had an elegant, retro feeling in it, the blocky yet skeletal design with the exposed engine and the brown paint job like an old tree glistened by oil. It stood as a memorial of sorts, of an era that had just died, yet its rumble and roar still echoed far.

He loved that motorcycle. Knew it as well as the back of his hand. He could always tell what was wrong with it in an instant.

This time, a spring was missing.

That meant…

“Yo! Goin’ somewhere?”

Serenity was too much to ask for a guy like him… He gripped his old Zippo, the sharp click of its cap the only indication of his annoyance.

The two students behind him wore identical grins like they were worth all the money in the world. Sure enough, in the second student’s palm was the missing spring. “Heheh! That piece of junk ain’t starting without this.”

Somewhere in the back of his mind, the young man found himself impressed that the thug even knew what this spring did. It was part of the mechanism that controlled the flow of the petrol from the fuel deposit to the engine. However, that part of him was small.

“Nothin’ to say, huh?” As if words had any meaning here. He would have it back anyway… “I don’t like that prissy face of yours. You think you’re hot shit, don’t you?”

Yet another one of those times… He flicked his Zippo and turned to glare at them. Their first warning. The first student seemed to have gotten the memo well enough for he shifted into an overly generic fighting stance. It would not help them.

He quickly gauged the students. Just two. He had a head on both of them and something important to retrieve. He had to be very careful not to go too far-

**_b-bmp_ **

He felt the wind get knocked out of him. His vision swam. He fell on his knee as heat suddenly took over his body. He tried to fight it off but it kept on spreading, growing stronger _and his back was killing him it was like_

He heard footsteps. Running. “D-dude, what’s wrong with you!?”

**_Take… my… hand…_ **

T-This was…

“Something’s wrong with him, man! He’s sweating bullets!”

He trembled. He knew this. The Fire was back; he wanted to yell them to run away _now why now!?_

**_Do not fear me… I am thou… Thou art I…_ **

_H-he…_

Before he could complete his thought, the door was almost smashed open. The Fire faded to a mere ember. It still hurt but it was manageable… They would not burn.

He vaguely registered a loud call of the word “chuckleheads”. It had to be the new principal… Hanya. Right.

One second later, and the spring had been shoved in his hand, the two thugs gone from sight. Of course… For some reason most the students here worshiped the very ground this asshole walked on. With a shake of his head in exasperation, he got back to work. The sooner he was out of here the better.

A shadow appeared over his head. “That goes for you too! Didn’t you hear me the first time!?” The young man briefly wondered if that long scar on the man’s face had cost him his vision. Could not he see that he was fixing his way home right now? “Why won’t you obey me already!?”

_That man…_

“Spit it out! Who are you and what class are you in!?”

With another flick, he got up on his knees and stared at the man straight in the eye.

“Tatsuya Suou. 3-B”

Something in the man’s expression shifted. “Ah, yes. Tatsuya Suou. I should have known. I’ve heard many rumors about you. So _you_ were that nasty resonance I sensed earlier? You seem to be as much trouble as the rumors say.”

 _Resonance?_ He did not like this. Something about the principal was setting off alarm bells in his mind.

Much to his astonishment, the principal burst into laughter. Tatsuya almost took a step back. What was up with this man? “Well, I’ll leave you alone, for now.”

_…huh?_

“ _He_ will be here to guide you soon enough, so you might as well enjoy what little is left of your youth.”

The alarm bells went crazy red. There was something off. There was something _terribly_ off… The ember burned brighter. Hanya went back in the school without another word, chuckling to himself all the way.

“Hey, Suou! Over here!” Tatsuya turned to find a guy from his class half-hidden behind the trees. He appeared to been waiting there for a while now. _Did he see… that?_ “Looks like you got the raw deal”, he said sympathetically. “Then again, Principal Hanya is a great man, so you’d better do as he says.” He flinched at Tatsuya’s death glare. “H-hey, don’t glare at me like that. I-I came here because Miss Saeko asked me to. She said you’re skipping out on guidance counseling.” This time it was Tatsuya’s turn to flinch. The other boy’s expression looked regretful. “Sorry man. She looked ready to chase you all the way to your house. Better go see her.”

_Miss Saeko…_

The guy tried to change the subject. “So, you maintain that bike by yourself huh? There’s a rumor you’re good with machines. I guess that’s – true…”

His only answer was the slam of the metal door.

 _Miss Saeko…_ He did not want to see her. Not at all. She was always chasing after him, asking all of those questions about his life that he could never answer, looking at him with _pity_ like she could see right through him… He hated it. No, that was not the right word… In front of her he felt naked, his back open to the world to see… He wanted to run.

He saw two girls walking towards the exit. One of them was a classmate. The other girl was a second year, cursed.

“Hey, Tatsuya-sempai! Was that principal Hanya just now?” The bandages wrapped around her head made her voice muffled. “Bad luck. He’s just awful but, I like him…” She seemed to be talking more to herself than him. “Why is that?” That was a good question.

He turned to the older girl. “Where’s Miss Saeko?”

“H-Huh? Miss Saeko? I don’t know, maybe at the teacher’s lounge?”

He nodded his thanks and left. He vaguely heard the girl mutter something about him being after her. He ignored that. He simply wandered through the hallways and he was through the first open door before he knew it. Why was he here?

For all that Hanya was yelling at people to leave school, the classes were still full of people.

He listened to conversations. About a rumormonger named Chikarin. About the Pleiades and how their school – Seven Sisters High – was named after them. About a guy who the others thought he was a cyborg. He snorted at that one.

He continued on with the other classrooms, not sure why he did it. Perhaps it was his way of stalling time. He usually runs at times like this…

A random guy begged him to get some Cuss High emblems to fend off the curse. Another one backed him up, said that the Undie Boss of Cuss High was after him. “Rumor has it that you beat up dozens of punks back in middle school, so a dude who just pantses people should be no sweat, right!?”

A glare shut him up. He used to get into many fights. He stopped doing that. The Fire was too strong.

A random student stopped him at the hallway. “Hey, Suou-sempai! Have you heard?” Tatsuya raised an eyebrow. “About the Joker game! They say that if you call your own cell, all your dreams will come true.”

“Bullshit.” The student looked as if he had been slapped. It took Tatsuya a moment to realize that he said that out loud. He tried to change the subject. “Where is Miss Saeko?”

“Um, I saw her at the stairs a moment ago, so the second floor, maybe?” That was where the teachers’ lounge was. He left him.

He passed by another class. Almost all the students were cursed, but a girl was cheering… Something about her freckles being removed. The Joker game.

_Was that her dream?_

He finally got to the teachers’ lounge. He took a deep breath and stepped in.

She was not here. Somehow, that did not surprise him.

The lounge was mostly empty; there were only two teachers there, with one of them grilling a cursed second-year. Oriri, the English teacher. About the only class he was good at other than PE.

“Oh, really? You had the Joker smarten you up, so that’s not really cheating?” Tatsuya stiffened. “Oh, really… Then how did you cheat?”

“Ugh, this is discrimination! I know my grades are lousy, but I would never cheat! I’ve been reborn!” Both Tatsuya and Oriri stared at the bandaged student with identical expressions of skepticism. “I’ll prove it! I can recite pi to a hundred thousand digits, right here, right now!”

“Oh, really? Prove it!”

“Hah! Hear goes! Pi attack!!!” So corny…

“3.141592653589793238462643383227950288419716939933751058209749445923! 07816406286208998628034825342117067982148!!”

_H-he seriously…_

The student was growing red in the face. “Zero… 0865132830664709!!!! 38446095505822317053594081284811174!!!!!”

_…Impossible._

The student was gasping for air now, but he braved on. “Five… five… 502841027019!!!!!!! 38521105559644622948954930381!!!!!!!!”

_This is wrong…_

Even beneath the bandages, the student’s veins were throbbing. “Nine… 9644288!!!!!!!!!! 10197566593344612847!!” He gasped for air. “N-no more…”

_This is **wrong…** They’re fools… are they blind… you can’t recite a number like that… that is no “dream”… Just ask for it and it happens… Bullshit…_

“Suou, are you alright?”

Tatsuya gasped. The other teacher had approached him from behind. “…yeah…” He shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts. “Where is Miss Saeko?”

“You’re looking for her? I see! I’m glad to hear it! So you’re finally ready to do guidance counseling!” She told the others… “She left a few moments ago. So you’re finally doing guidance counseling. I see! Good luck!”

Tatsuya was already out.

He was interrupted by a familiar voice. “Hello, Suou-sempai!”

“Noriko.” He was not expecting to see her at this hour. She was holding a pair of women’s sneakers in her hand.

“Have you seen Big Sis, um, I mean, Anna-sempai?”

“Yoshizaka? No.” Anna Yoshizaka. She used to be in his class. That was the only reason why he knew Noriko’s name in the first place. She was spending more time in their classroom than her own.

“I see… Ever since she quit school, nobody has seen her… I admire her so much. I only came to Sevens because of her… She was always so excited on the track… But, but… Big Sis…” She started sniffling.

Tatsuya’s face fell. She looked so small… Something in him resonated. The words were out of his mouth before he could think them. “Keep chasing. She’s not gone.”

Noriko turned to him in surprise but she managed a small smile. “Eheheh… I shouldn’t be crying, right? I need to look after her running shoes!”

She ran off somewhere. Probably the track field.

“Suou-sempai...” It was another girl, staring at him dead serious. Her voice fell to a whisper. “If you see Yoshizaka-sempai, can you tell her to come back? It hurts to see Noriko like this. She goes out at nights looking for her all over and she can barely stand in the mornings… Please, tell her not to throw her gifts away.”

His breath stopped short. _Throw away her gifts…_ “I will.”

“Thank you, sempai…”

He slowly walked away, absentmindedly flicking his lighter. He almost did not notice it when he nearly bumped into another girl.

“Um, Suou-san? May I ask you something?”

“What?”

“Lisa-san says that you two are dating… Is it true…?”

 _Lisa!?_ He flicked his lighter violently; an automatic reaction. “No.”

“Oh, I see... I was just curious.”

Tatsuya tried to banish Lisa from his mind. “Where’s Miss Saeko?”

“Um, I saw her heading upstairs just a moment ago.”

“Thanks.” With that, he left.

Lisa Silverman… A student of class 2-C and self-proclaimed hottest girl at school. Said title was more than just bragging; a fully Caucasian girl with milky skin, sky blue eyes and golden hair, along with a toned and perfectly proportioned figure; no matter what country she was in, she would be an object of envy.

Why in the world was she spreading rumors about them dating? Tatsuya knew that she _wanted_ him to date her and she was far from the only one. He was not blind. He had a mirror in his house and he was perfectly aware of how he looked like to others. There were several girls and even a few guys crushing on him… But _nobody_ was as insistent as Lisa. She was following him around behind corners, stared at him through the window when he skipped class and the few times he ditched school, she _ditched class to find him_.

_This obsession… isn’t normal…_

He passed by another classroom. That one conversation caught his attention.

“Have you seen Cozy-sempai? She and Chikarin are missing.”

“I heard they went to Cuss High to investigate the emblem curse.”

“Makes sense, since they started it and all.”

“Well, they’d better bring a few Cuss High emblems back. I heard they repel the curse. Darn it, this sucks. Now our schools have switched reputations!”

First time he heard that rumor.

“Hello, Suou-sempai.”

Tatsuya recognized the voice, but he turn around to confirm it anyway. Lisa’s friends, Mami and Miho.

Mami was the one who spoke. “Lisa was looking for you earlier with a letter in her hand. She seemed pretty anxious. I hope you get the picture?” He did. “Don’t be so cold to Lisa. She’s really into you, so if you make her cry, I’ll be forced to take action.”

“Shiba’s right!” jumped in Miho, using that strange nickname she had for her friend. “When Lisa cries, we all cry! We’re her best friends, after all!” Her voice fell down to a whisper. “No jumping off windows, OK?”

As far as he was concerned, that did _not_ happen. EVER.

“Lisa is pretty amazing, you know”, continued Miho. “She’s multilingual! She knows Japanese, English and even Cantatonese. And she’s totally laid back and chill. The three of us pull all nighters at Yumezaki all the time! You’d make such a cute couple. The handsome and muscular delinquent and the exotic model-like Caucasian…”

He turned away with yet another lighter flick. He had enough of it.

He ran straight to the third floor but he did not make it past the first classroom when he was interrupted again.

“Bleheheheheh…” Ah yes, her. The horror story girl. “I have yet another challenge for you, Tatsuya Suou. This story is especially spooktacular. Listen to this…”

Tatsuya decided to humor her. He flicked his lighter and waited for her to continue.

“Do you know the statue of the principal in the courtyard? When nobody is looking… it comes to life and walks around! Eeeeeeee! Nooooooooooooo!” She got over her dramatic emphasis. “Well? Was it scary?”

Honestly? “Not at all.”

“Huh!? I-It doesn’t even make you blink…?” She slumped on the ground. “It’s true what they say… There is ice running through your veins… That story nearly made me hide under my bed… BUT!” She was back on her feet in a flash. “One day I will find a story that will burn its memory even in _your_ mind!” A strange one, but one of the few people in here who treated him like normal. Or as normal as it could get in her case.

He nodded his goodbye to her and moved on. His ear caught that the school festival would be cancelled… No matter. It’s not like he would be attending anyway.

“H-Hey, Tatsuya-kun!” Tatsuya turned his attention to the two boys; same year as him, but one of them was cursed. He would not recognize him even if he did know his name. “I heard the Cuss High’s Undie Boss is out to get you… D-Does that make you nervous?”

No. But a lot of people had brought him up lately… “What’s this whole “boss” deal?” It was the thing he was most curious about. Cuss High was indeed full of delinquents – hah – but he never heard anyone commanding them.

“Well, um… I-I’m not too sure about it either, but…” The student took a deep breath. When he spoke again, he was fairly steadier. “Loners like you are pretty rare too. D-Don’t make too many enemies.”

Tatsuya was mildly surprised at this show of concern. “…You’re quite the realist.”

“H-Huh…?” If not for the bandages the boy would probably be gaping at him.

“Everybody here thinks I’m invincible…” Inwardly, Tatsuya shook his head, letting himself open up like that. He left the cursed student as was, leaving his friends to pester him about the Joker. He had heard enough about that crap already.

He ran into a member of the track team in the hallway. “Yo, Tatsuya. Heard the Undie Boss of Cuss High’s after you. Rumor is you’re pretty strong yourself, but you should watch out.”

 _Now_ Tatsuya was curious. This was what, the third person to mention him? “Is he that good?”

“Well, he’s got to, to get Cuss High under his thump! ‘Sides, there’s some weird rumors going about him too.”

“Like?”

“How to put this… Those dudes he pantsied? Nobody’s sure how he managed to get them on top of that flagpole, and nobody who saw it would talk… Everyone’s saying that when that dude fights, he never gets a scratch on ‘im.”

Tatsuya flicked his lighter at that. Unless you are a top-tier martial artist of have a gun, it’s impossible to get out of a fight completely unscathed even if you win.

But he had done that. Once.

“You know, they say whoever cursed our emblem may be a Cuss High student…”

“I’ve heard.”

In fact, he just wanted to find Miss Saeko and get to his job already. He wanted to switch from people to machines as soon as possible.

“Where’s Miss Saeko?”

“Huh? You haven’t seen her yet? I told her to wait for you at the bike racks.”

…

“ _What._ ”

“What? That’s where you always hang out.”

Tatsuya flicked his lighter sharply. The track runner took this as his cue to shut up. Good, because Tatsuya was at a loss for words. He had run through _the entire school_ only to be told Miss Saeko was _right where he started_.

It wasn’t one of “those” days, it was _worse_.

“Uh, Tatsuya?”

Tatsuya just left.

He hadn’t truly expected to find her. _He didn’t want to._ However…

Well, he had already checked the entire school. Checking his own classroom would not be so weird. And besides…

He went in.

As soon as he entered the door Tatsuya cornered the nearest student he could find. He was one of the cursed ones, but Tatsuya recognized him even like this; he was a member of the track team too.

“Suou? What’s up?”

“Have you seen Yoshizaka?” _Her Big Sis…_

The request – if one could call it that – was enough to somber-up the other guy. “Yeah… I saw her near some clubs in Yumezaki. She was with a baaaaaaaaad crowd. I tried to talk to her, you know? But then she looked at me and… I don’t know, man. That look on her eyes was nothing like before. She’s in bad shape, man. She looked dead inside. Like…”

Even through the bandages, the student looked at him in the eye. Tatsuya reflexively flipped his lighter.

The guy shook his head. “Never mind. But, yeah… I think it’s best if you go and talk to her though. I know you aren’t friends, but if she won’t listen to us…”

“Hey, Suou-kun!”

Both boys were grateful for the interruption. Behind them was another cursed student, this time a girl. “Remember Yoko?”

Huh?

“Over there, the girl you rejected?” The girl she pointed at was standing at the back of the classroom eying him. He had never paid too much attention before, but she had quite the cute features… Why didn’t he remember her?

Since he was standing right next to them, his classmate decided to take part in the conversation. “Yeah, she’s been over the moon the last few days. And something seems different, but I don’t know.”

“Yeah, it’s different! She’s suddenly way cuter! I’m all stressed out because of the curse here, but look at her!”

This sort of thing…

“The Joker game?”

The other two looked at Tatsuya, then at each other. “Well, you could always ask her…”

Now it was Tatsuya’s turn to stare at them both. “Hey, she’ll blow us off if we ask. She gets nasty to us as of late.”

Over the moon, nasty to others, and suddenly cuter… Worth checking.

Yoko saw Tatsuya approaching her. Her face reminded her of the cats outside their apartment complex whenever his brother left cream outside for the stray cats.

More specifically, it reminded him of that one cat that always managed to kick the others off.

“Hohoho… You are checking me out? Well? Aren’t I gorgeous? There’s no way I’m not chosen as Miss Sevens this year. I won’t let that foreign bitch Lisa beat me.”

 _Oh._ Now he remembered her.

She threw a distasteful look at Tatsuya. “Hmph. Having second thoughts about rejecting me!? I’ll wipe that prissy look of your face and make you regret what you did!”

Tatsuya looked behind him. The two students were trembling in anticipation. The girl gave him a thumbs-up. Alright then.

“I’m not interested in anyone who cheats their way to their dreams.”

“E- _Excuse_ me!?”

“And that dream is cheap. You can’t even call it that. You’re just jealous. You’re beautiful but you don’t shine with it. You’re just empty.”

Now she was openly gaping at him. So was everyone else in the class.

Tatsuya turned around and walked away, passing by his two classmates. “ _Dude._ ”

Tatsuya flicked his lighter in annoyance. He shut up.

As he left the other students starting chatting.

“Maybe he’s more interested in Lisa after all… She’s weird with the Chinese and stuff but she’s a real blonde! Imagine having her as a girlfriend, that’d be so cool…”

Tatsuya ignored that.

“Yo, Tatsuya! That was really cool there. Didn’t know you could say stuff like that! You’ll shine at the interview!”

What. “Interview?”

“You didn’t know? I heard a rumor that Coolest is here to interview us. Maybe they just want to talk to you. You’re popular even in other schools, after all. Better watch out for jealous guys! Oh yeah, you’re a good fighter…”

Tatsuya had to leave _now._

As he finally left the class he heard a commotion in the hallway, from the direction of the Principal’s office. Who in the world was there?

 _Better avoid that, if Principal Hanya is there..._ He was in no mood to deal with the man again.

But as he rushed down to the first floor and crossed the hallway, an annoying voice interrupted him again.

“Hey, Suou!” Hanya. Wasn’t he up in his office just a few minutes ago? _If not then… who was?_

The principal had a shit-eating grin that twisted his whole face. “So I heard you’ve been dodging guidance counseling.”

Maybe he should answer that? To get rid of that guy as fast as possible, if nothing else. “I’m going there now.”

Principal Hanya roared in laughter. Tatsuya felt the ember flaring up. _Keep it together…_ He only leveled a glare at the man – while slouching, they were about the same height.

The principal didn’t notice a thing. “It’s not as if your dream will come true regardless.” He keeps running his mouth… “The one under the star of stolen dreams has no right to have his ideals realized.”

_Wh-what_

“I was told to tell you that.”

Wh- “By _who!?_ ”

Principal Hanya just laughed again and turned on his heel. “You’ll find out soon enough! That is your destiny!”

Tatsuya wanted to go after him. He really, _really_ did; go after him, trap him in a corner and demand answers _and the Fire flared up again._

Tatsuya froze in his tracks. His chest was burning. He took several deep breaths, trying to smother it. As the Fire settled down, a wave of… relief, perhaps? Whatever it was, it cooled him down.

But not for long.

He had to get out of here.

But Miss Saeko…

Tatsuya headed back to the bike racks. If he was walking faster than usual, nobody was around to commend on it.

The metal door felt a lot colder now. He opened it anyway.

There she was, right next to his motorcycle.

Miss Saeko had only recently transferred here from St. Hermelin High, but she was already the school’s favourite teacher. She always had this relaxed air around her, with her shirt opened up a bit and her jacket slung over her shoulders, nothing like the prim and proper image of most teachers. She treated each and every lesson like it made her day brighter, and every student like they were someone worth her time. It was almost refreshing, at first.

Then, she started focusing on him. Asking questions. Saying that she had seen kids like him before, that he reminded him of some old students of hers, that she would believe anything he said no matter what it was.

Tatsuya just wanted her to leave. Let him continue in peace before her questions would make his head split again, down on his knees and gasping for air.

It had happened the first time she asked for a one-on-one with him. He made sure it never happened again.

She dragged him out of his thoughts.

“Aha! I thought you’d be here, Tatsuya. I figured it would be easier to wait for you by your baby here.”

…His baby, huh? The bike was important to be, but his baby… Something he valued that much...

She was too bright. It hurt to look at her. It made his head split again. Behind him, Miss Saeko was telling him not to worry, that it was informal and all. Even if it was formal… No, he wouldn’t know then either.

Tatsuya closed his eyes. He took a deep breath, making sure he was calm, enough to look at her. He had to get this over with.

He finally faced her, and Miss Saeko nodded in approval, barely hiding her excitement.

“Good, good. Well then! Have you decided what you want to do after graduation?”

_Get out of there. Away. Find… what? Someone. Something. He had to GO because everything was chocking him and he was DROWNING in there and if he never ran he would never get away from it and from them and the FIRE would-_

The sharp click from the lighter brought him back to clarity.

“Tatsuya?”

He shook his head. “Not yet.”

“I see… Then…” She was a good actress. She really was. But she could not hide her disappointment as well as she thought. However, that didn’t last for long.

“Tell me, and you don’t have to get specific. Is there anything you want to do?”

_Is there?_

**_Yes._ **

“Actually, there is.” The click of the lighter affirmed that. There _was_ something he had to do. No matter what.

“Ahh, I see! You don’t have a specific goal in mind, but you want to follow your dreams?” That… was not quite it. Even though he did not know what “it” was. “But you can’t go on that way forever, can you? What do you think?”

His dreams…

What did his dreams mean to him? A dream was something precious and untouchable, something that should never be wasted, something that no matter how you reached for it, it was always far away. _A dream is like a star in the sky._

He’d like to say that he didn’t think about it much. But every time he really thought about it _something_ would happen and he’d get dragged down again.

A sharp click of the lighter cleared his vision again, and he saw Miss Saeko looking at him worried.

_Reaching for the stars…_

“I’ll balance dreams and life.” What else could he really say to her?

Somehow, that cheered her up. She bumped her fist like celebrating a victory. “Is that so…! If you’re that fired up, I’m sure you’ll do just fine! Good luck! I’ll be cheering on you!”

_Fired up…? But…_

She put her hand on her shoulder, and he felt like a liar. He could not look at her.

At least it was over. He scouted over to his bike.

“Tatsuya…”

He froze. He turned to see her, and her smile and cheer were gone. She looked at him with those eyes again and he felt them piercing through him.

“Why do you put up walls like that? You look like you’re in so much pain that I can’t bear to see it…”

_Get OUT_

“OH, THERE YOU ARE!”

What. Wait, _what?_

Tatsuya turned around. _Oh, no._

“Hey, Tatsuya! Hold up! Tatsuya!”

He was _so screwed._ The girl was no other than his No.1 stalker, Lisa Silverman. Where did she even come from!?

“Wait… Aiya!” Right. Miss Saeko. For once he was _very glad_ that she was here.

Miss Saeko was just as surprised as Tatsuya. “Lisa! What’s all the hubbub about?”

Lisa was practically fidgeting. “Sorry-ia, Miss Saeko! I have important business with Tatsuya here! Can I borrow him?”

Important business- _oh, NO._ She would say no. She _had_ to. Miss Saeko wanted to have an _important conversation_ with him, surely she would tell Lisa to wait. Lisa had this _letter_ on her and that was literally the _very last thing_ Tatsuya wanted to-

“Well, all right… See you, Tatsuya.”

_What!?_

No. No no no no no. Just no. Tatsuya gestured wildly at his teacher, for once in his life hoping for her to notice him. But apparently Miss Saeko was selectively blind, because she did not even look at him. She just up and left.

What even-!?

Tatsuya flicked his lighter. _Great._

Suddenly he saw an arm waving before him. “Tatsuya, we have a problem.”

Tatsuya blinked in surprise. Why was she so serious?

But before he could ask her, she freaked out again. “Wait a sec… Aiya!”

What now?

Lisa grabbed her hair in exasperation and suddenly her arm shot up. Before he could even blink, he heard a tearing sound. In Lisa’s hand was an Sevens emblem. _His_ emblem.

On the one hand; his brother was going to be a massive headache again.

On the other, Lisa was surprisingly strong.

“I don’t believe this! Why are you still wearing your emblem!? You DO know about the emblem curse, right?” Well, obviously. Half the school was bandaged, it’d be hard _not_ to notice.

“Geez! I worry about you sometimes…”

_There she goes again…_

“But oh yeah, that can wait! I got a challenge note for you! A guy from Cuss High told me to give it to you!”

A challenge from Cuss High? It can’t be…

Tatsuya grabbed the letter from her hand and opened it. Lisa leaned over his shoulder to read it as well.

_“Tatsuya Suou: We’re holding a girl from your school hostage. If you value her life, come to Sumaru Prison alone._

_– Kasugayama High Boss,  
Michel Eikichi.”_

A girl… trapped? That- _that bastard…_

The heat in his chest flared up again.

“Haime! Seriously!? Now that’s old-school…” That was _not_ the problem here. “I dunno, though, rumor has it this guy’s really strong!” So had he.

“I also heard a rumor that it was a Cuss High jerk who cursed our emblem… I bet it was this same guy!”

The Boss having cursed the school emblem? Tatsuya had never thought about the source of that but… Lisa had a pretty interesting theory there…

And besides, there was a girl and she was _trapped._

He grabbed him helmet.

“Tatsuya… You’re going alone, huh?”

Something in her tone of voice made him pause. He just flicked the lighter. He _had_ to go alone.

“Knew it… But do you know how to get to Sumaru Prison?”

He… hadn’t thought of that.

His thoughts must have been evident because Lisa responded immediately. “I can at least show you the way! I don’t want to sit around until the curse gets me too. Please, take me along!”

For the first time Tatsuya took a good look of her and he was astonished. Her fists were shaking with anger and her eyes were blazing. Her whole body was tense and something in her stance had shifted ever so slightly. She looked ready to get into a fist fight. He had never seen her like that.

He could not say no to that.

Tatsuya opened the back compartment and retrieved his spare helmet. He tossed it to her and she caught it with ease.

“Get on. We’re going.”

Her face changed expressions in the blink of an eye. She was astonished. Then delighted. Then determined again. She put it on and Tatsuya knew right there and there that he made the right choice.

They had a girl to save.


	2. Awakening

Lisa kept surprising Tatsuya at every turn – quite literally. From the moment she got on the bike, she stayed focused and gave him instructions on where to turn at just the right moments, an edge in her voice that she had never displayed before.

The ride was a short one. Before he knew it, the two were standing before a ran-down building.

Sumaru Prison looked… abandoned, in one word. The paint had been darkened by the pollution and was chipping off the walls. The bars on the windows had rusted and were frail. Some windows were broken, though there were no shards on the pavement.

Lisa was off the bike before it even came to a halt, a practically rushed to the door. However…

“Helmet?”

“Oh! Right! Sorry-ia!” She removed the helmet and handed it back to Tatsuya, looking sheepish.

Tatsuya took it without a word and placed it back in the compartment. He removed his own helmet and let it hang there. He hoped they save that girl fast.

He could hear loud voices from the inside. Three or four guys…

Lisa all but kicked down the door. It echoed with a metal bang and a horrible screech.

Whatever conversation they were having, it came to an abrupt halt.

_The hinges need oiling…_

Lisa was fuming. “Huh… So what’s this about?”

The room was stunned enough for him to scan the space. Four guys in Kasugayama High uniforms, and a girl from Sevens, second year. Tatsuya recognized her, if for her face. She was the only fat girl in the school.

Then he noticed that she was sitting on a comfy-looking couch with empty boxes of junk food, looking more confused than anything, and that the guys were huddled together in a corner.

“Suou!?”

The guy who yelled was…

He was…

_Wow._

That was one of the most striking people he had ever seen.

He was even taller than Tatsuya himself, and skinny with white skin – really white, no Caucasian white – with dark Visual Kei make-up and hair styled in spikes and died blue. He could make out various accessories to go with the theme, and he was wearing something that looked like a black skirt with orange patterns.

It took some real guts to go out on the street like that. He had even added red contact lenses. That was quite the touch.

Lisa was not about to let him observe the guy for much longer. She stomped her way to them, already full of fire and pointing fingers.

She pointed straight at the Visual Kei guy. “Michel Eikichi, I take it?”

Tatsuya flicked his lighter. They would take that girl back.

“Yeah yeah yeah! Do I got you, baby?”

_Huh?_

Wait, was he actually _posing_?

“Allow me to introduce myself as genius artist Michel, spreading love to ladies around the world! Hooooooo!”

_What._

“What… are you smoking?”

_Thank you, Lisa._ He could not have put it better.

Obviously, this Michel did not take kindly to that.

“What was that, you little-- --!?”

“Um… Please forgive us!”

The Kasugayama High Boss was cut short of his rant. Unlike their boss, his three lackeys were completely ordinary-looking, and all three of them looked terrified.

“We used Kozy-san as a hostage to lure out Suou-san!”

He should have known. He really should have known. He was so caught up in rescuing this girl – Kozy – that he completely ignored the possibility of-

“You know how you were pumped to start a band, Michel-san? We were looking for members. You were the only one, so…”

“We thought Suou-san would be a good fit. And he’s reliable, so we thought you’d be happy to have him aboard…”

_A band!?_ Th-this… Just…

That was actually a pretty good idea. He had not had practice in a while.

“Y-You guys… You knew what would happen if you violated the Bro Code and you still…”

From the corner of his eye he could see Lisa mouthing “bro code” in disbelief.

And then the three guys _saluted_. “Yes, sir! “Cowardice is unbefitting of a real man!” We’ll take whatever punishment you have in store!”

Tatsuya had never seen anything like this in his life. He thought this sort of thing happened only in mangas.

“Um…”

Oh. They forgot about Kozy.

“So that stuff about telling me the mystery of the emblem curse… Was that all a lie? If so, then I’m going to go.”

She sounded very disappointed. _She lost her goal…_

She got off her seat, and headed to the exit.

Lisa let a heavy sigh. “We should go too, Tatsuya. This is so stupid I might cry.”

True, it was pretty stupid, but…

“Hold it, Suou!”

Kozy stopped at her tracks. Tatsuya flicked his lighter. What now?

“I hate to stoop this low… But for the sake of my bros, I can’t let you go that easily. For my honor as a Death Boss, I’m dragging you into my band!”

Death Boss?

Lisa was having none of it. ““Death Boss”!? More like Undie Boss!”

A shocked gasp filled the room. The guys exchanged worried glances. Michel was looking at them slack-jawed.

Lisa was giggling to herself, satisfied by the reaction. “I’ve heard the rumors! You became Boss by pantsing people, didn’t you?”

Tatsuya could have _sworn_ he heard something snap.

Obviously his teammates heard it too. “U-uh-oh… Michel-san!”

The temperature suddenly plummeted. It was not _cold_ but-

“Undie…”

_**b-bmp** _

It was…

_The pressure._ That same _pressure_ that he felt _those times_ than left him with his breath short and the Fire _burning-_

“Wh-What’s happening…!?”

_…Lisa too…?_

A bright glow filled their vision.

The _light_. The light was _blue_ and _ethereal_ and _beautiful_ , and it circled Eikichi like a shield, an embrace and a weapon, cool air coming from it like the breeze over the river. And yet the pressure was heavy and filled with _presence_

“Don’t! Call! Me! Undie!”

It was… _Like that time…_

“My name is Eikichi Mishina! EIKICHI! MISHINAAAAA!”

And everything else stopped mattering.

“Come, Deathbringer!”

From the light emerged a figure. Humanoid and metal, resembling a motorcycle with silver-ish purples and bold oranges. Its hands held on the helm that was its crotch yet despite the ridiculous and flamboyant appearance it was imposing and intimidating.

Its voice echoed through their heads…

_**“I am Rhadamanthus… the judge of the netherworld. I shall sever your foes’ sins with my blade of judgement!”** _

Eikichi’s eyes were burning.

_Aqua._

A geyser of glowing water appeared beneath Lisa, knocking her off her feet.

She screamed.

And the light appeared for her too.

“Wh-what!?”

A figure above Lisa was feminine, just as bold in style with a body of black tubes and hearts, metal angel wings and a bow in matching pink, with white fur its only clothing.

“Haime… Seriously?”

Rhadamanthus vanished and Eikichi was left rubbing his eyes. Tatsuya was frozen in shock.

_She-she truly…_

The _Fire_ was _burning him._

_**“I am Eros… My golden arrows kindle love’s flames… I shall be your strength, my other self…”** _

That was all the entity got out before it vanished. Lisa collapsed.

Eikichi was panicking. “H-H-How can you use it too!?”

_**Fear not… Take my hand…** _

_The Fire._ It was talking to him… It was calling out… Like back then… But…

_Alright… I’ll trust you._

Tatsuya kneeled and prepared himself. He knew what the Fire could do. Far too well.

But for the first time, the enemy was on the same footing.

He clutched his lighter. The light filled his vision, and for the first time in a long time he felt _awake._

He hardly noticed the figure above him.

_**“I am thou… Thou art I… From the sea of thy soul I cometh… The bearer of the inferno that burns away impurity, Vulcanus!”** _

Eikichi was stunned for words.

_Agi._

A pillar of fire. It engulfed Eikichi who took it without a sound. He still collapsed.

_Tatsuya’s vision blurred, the Fire back in his chest, curling around his heart._

_So that’s… what it was…_

The last thing he heard were voices.

* * *

_A gold butterfly is dancing in the air leaving sparkles of sunlight behind._

_In the end of the long and deep tunnel that is the heart, the masked children are playing under the shadow of the shrine…_

_A girl is begging the gods to answer her prayers…_

_This place, and these images, they are sacred…_

_In the middle of the sea, there is a chamber and a vessel._

_Stars dot the ceiling, and the stairs lead to eternity and nowhere._

_Now, wake up._

* * *

The first thing Tatsuya registered was green. Green, dotted with billions upon billions of stars and galaxies. He felt like he was crushed and floating at once, and the air he was breathing did not truly fill his lungs.

Around him he could hear Lisa and Eikichi groaning. He too struggled to move.

The floor was the next thing he noticed. It was made of marble, or so he thought; of white and black square tiles like a chess board. He sat up and the golden columns reached to a high up ceiling.

There was a staircase standing on nothing, and passing through the column, leading to a door high up that led to nowhere. The ceiling was decorated with golden stars.

Beyond this structure, there was nothing. Only the green sky with its galaxies.

He turned and faced the others in confusion, only to be met with questioning gazes.

In the center of the platform, the tiles stopped to make way for the drawing of a butterfly on a green background as if made of glowing emerald.

Golden dust was flying in circles above the design, forming a pillar of fading light.

And through the pillar, a butterfly appeared.

It instantly drew all their attention. It was like their very essence was drawn to this being.

And as the butterfly faded, its place took a man… No, rather, the butterfly was the man… And the man was the butterfly…

A man dressed in plain black clothes, with a long ponytail and a butterfly mask adorning his face.

He opened his mouth and spoke, and the voice that came out was neither male nor female, yet it was both.

“Welcome to the gulf between consciousness and unconsciousness… My name is Philemon. Have you forgotten?”

Philemon…?

_…Forgotten…?_

“Phile…mon…?” Lisa’s voice was full of confusion, wonder and dread.

He marveled at how clearly he could feel them now; it was like a gate had been opened that let their auras – their _resonance_ – seep into his being.

The god – for this was beyond a shadow of doubt a _god_ that was standing before them – continued with his speech.

“The power you hold is called Persona. It is the power to summon the selves within you, the gods and demons you harbor.”

Gods… and demons… _inside_ them…

“The self suffused with divine love… The self capable of demonic cruelty… People live by wearing different masks. Your current self is only one of those innumerable masks. Your Persona is also among your countless selves.”

“That’s…” Eikichi was lost in his own head. “…me…? What are you…?”

He sounded like he too already knew the answer.

“From here on, you will face a fearsome entity which threatens your existence. From time out of mind, beyond oblivion… The land of Sumaru is now a netherworld where rumors are reality. The battle is begun…”

The three of them exchanged gazes, with no hint of what to make out of this specter and his foreboding words.

“I summoned you here to tell you this. Now go, and with your Personas break the chain of karma laid against you…”

There was a pull, beckoning them from somewhere out of here.

And this world faded to black.

* * *

Tatsuya woke up to Kozy’s voice.

“Eikichi-ku-- --I mean, Boss-san! Are you okay!?”

He could hear Lisa and Eikichi groaning as they got up. He could not hold back a groan of pain himself. He felt like he had been beaten up whole.

The other three guys and Kozy were all looking at them concerned. Maybe a little scared. How long had they been out?

“That… wasn’t a dream, was it?” Eikichi’s voice came out as a rough croak. He struggled to stay up on his feet. 

“I don’t think so…” He sounded awful.

Lisa sounded as bad as the two of them. “I knew it…! I saw it, too. It called those things Personas…?”

“Yeah…” He _finally_ had a name for it… The Fire… _Persona…_

“Even the part about rumors coming true, and the stuff about the future…? That’s too much for it to be a coincidence.”

Tatsuya stayed silent. A “fearsome entity”… And “chains of karma”…

“Hey, I know… You wanna try the Joker game?”

Everyone stared at Lisa. Why would she bring that up now?

Eikichi was just as confused. “The thing where you call your own cell and it shows up? Why would I want to try that?”

“To tell if that was just a dream or something more” replied Lisa. “If the rumor really comes true, then it was all real…”

Eikichi folded his hands. “I’ll pass. There’s no way all that could be possible…”

“That’s why I’ll prove it.”

Tatsuya wondered if he should speak up. The whole thing with the Joker was just _wrong_ but there were so many stories…

“Hey… Are you scared or something…?”

Under literally any other circumstances, those words would be mocking. But everything about Lisa just screamed insecurity right now.

Eikichi probably picked it up too, because he did not start another fight. Or maybe he was too troubled to register them. “If you say so… It does feel like we should be doing something after a dream like that. Let’s see if this is for real.”

Tatsuya flicked his lighter and nodded in agreement.

They _had_ to know.

* * *

The following few minutes were like a blur to Tatsuya. After a brief discussion that only barely did not devolve in an argument, they decided to have Lisa play the Joker game with Eikichi’s schoolmates while he and Eikichi, as the most capable fighters, kept guard in case anything happened. Kozy refused to participate – something that everyone agreed with on the principle of being too dangerous, but the guys quickly protested that _they_ also thought it was too dangerous for them and they had no idea what was even happening.

As Eikichi tried to persuade his teammates into joining, Tatsuya just… took everything in.

The Fire – _Vulcanus_ – had calmed down, finally, but did not vanish. Instead, he could feel the heat spreading through his veins with every breath, going from a painful burn in his chest to a strange warmth through his whole body. Just a thought was enough to spark it again, but otherwise…

It was… comfortable.

The Fire – _Vulcanus, he had too remember that_ – had been with him… He was not sure for how long. He could not remember if he was there before that… accident in his childhood. Until his middle school years, he did not even have the faintest idea on what it was.

Then those high schoolers ganged up on him and then…

It explained a few things.

He had to live with it. No, he had to _suppress_ it because it was _horrible._

And then Eikichi “Michel” Mishina, the Boss of Kasugayama High showed up, and he was using _magic_ out in the open, without any fear or hesitation.

If Tatsuya had not been so shocked and confused by the whole situation, it would feel like a slap in the face.

If he had accepted _Vulcanus_ sooner, then maybe that thing with the high schoolers could have been avoided.

A yell from Lisa brought him back to his senses.

He wondered how _she_ felt about this. Was she like him, with strange _accidents_ and a feeling in her chest that she could not explain? Did she have no idea before this?

“Why are we the ones who have to do this…?”

Looks like Lisa finally bullied them to get in formation; the four of them close together facing each other, with their backs facing the four corners of the room. They all held hands with each other.

“Well then, here goes…” said Lisa. “Master Joker, please come here…”

The four shook their hands up and down like in a child’s game, and then turned around and walked to opposite corners of the room. They all took out their phones and started dialing.

“Hey, Suou…” He turned to Eikichi. His attempt at whispering was not really good. “What do you think will happen?”

There was something bugging his memory about it... He could not remember where he heard it but… “When you call your own cell, it usually says the line is busy and won’t connect…”

“So the Joker game is impossible, huh…?”

Tatsuya was not so sure about that. He turned his attention back to Lisa and the others.

Lisa was holding her cell to her ear, stunned. “No way…”

Eikichi and Tatsuya exchanged surprised looks, understanding dawning on both of them.

It connected.

The guys were shock still. “It just…”

“Did… someone pick up?”

“Um… Hello…?”

And as if summoned – because _it was summoned_ – a black portal sparkling with power and lightning manifested in the very spot the group was standing earlier.

The pressure felt like a stab through the heart. Something was _wrong wrong wrong WRONG_ and he could not _move._

“Behind you…”

The voice was male and female at once like an echo, but it undoubtedly came from the specter clad in white.

The four turned around and faced them phantom in shock. Clad it white, four phantoms were standing though only one seemed material, with a harlequin hat and a beard like a pharaoh, in black and gold all decorated with roses, the fake smile on its mask red, sardonic and saddened.

“I am Joker… The final trump card drawn by those anguished over their dreams… Tell me your ideal…”

_Who… who IS this…?_

Nobody could move. Tatsuya vaguely noticed Lisa’s knees giving out. Others stepped back, rubbing their eyes as if they could clear the specter out of their vision.

His chest was _burning_ with all that _anguish and FEAR because this was WRONG, oh so wrong…_

“No!” Kozy was shouting, but it might as well have been through water. “You have to hurry and tell it your ideals! The rumor says that those who don’t get turned into shadowmen!”

The specter chuckled. But was that… sadness…?

“Your trump cards have been spoiled…”

Out of nowhere he manifested a large sparkling object – a crystal skull, buzzing with power. What in the…?

“The bet on the table was your inner dreaming heart… In accordance to the ritual, I will now claim the pot.”

And then the skulls _glowed._

They could only watch in terror as the skulls seemed to absorb light from the minds of the boys. As they grew brighter, their bodies became darker and darker, as if any brightness they ever held was being stolen from them.

They screamed.

And then, it was over. Hunched and blackened out.

“K-Ken! Shogo! Takeshi!”

No response to the cries of their leader.

“You bastard… What did you do!?”

Joker was entirely too calm as he replied. “Ideals only cause pain to the powerless. I have freed them from that anguish… Better not yearn for impossible dreams.”

_He has no right to cry. That_ …thing _that steals dreams has NO RIGHT to cry._

“They are lifeless shells of dreams…” he continued. “They can be seen, but are not. They will be forgotten and become true shadows.”

_…Forgotten…?_

“But enough chitchat. I have other business with you.”

The sudden change of tone caught them all off-guard. It was no longer saddened and detached. No, he was _pissed._

The blue light of a Persona engulfed him. Tatsuya was forced on his knees as the pressure of that _wrongness_ took his breath away. Eikichi was hugging himself and trembling whole, and he could feel all of their Personas frozen with terror.

Lisa was barely breathing. “I can’t move… Is it the fear…!?”

“It’s been ages, Tatsuya Suou… I’ve been waiting… for the moment you would all summon me!”

_He… knows me…?_

And then there was nothing but them.

“As a parting gift, I’ll show you something interesting… Not Personas, but true demons!”

He raised his arm as if signaling, and at his command two… _creatures_ appeared, identical with each other. The two naked female forms had long hair that completely his their faces from view but for their glowing red eyes, and their feet and arms were more like the appendages of a bird, ending in sharp talons and plush pink feathers.

“Wh-What are those things!?”

At Lisa’s yell, the attention of the creatures was drawn to her, and one lashed out with its talons, ripping her uniform. Tatsuya barely raised his hands in defense before the second creature came for him.

He pushed himself up to his feet. “We have to get rid of them!”

Tatsuya focused. Volcanus responded with eagerness. He casted Agi again on one of the demons, killing it in one strike. With a cry it vanished from existence, as if it was never there.

“Fanna…!” Lisa finally managed to get back on her feet, looking terrified but _angry._ “There’s no way I’m letting those things kill me!”

She shifted to a martial arts stance and summoned her Persona again – and _this_ time, damage she did.

_Magna._

A _boulder_ manifested from thin air and crushed the demon from all sides. They both vanished without a trace.

Eros disappeared and Lisa broke off her stance, worn out.

“You guys! Work with me here!” Eikichi was back on his feet and raring to go. Tatsuya was… _relieved_. He was probably the only one here who knew what he was doing.

“Any ideas?”

“Let’s combine our spells! If we all attack together, we just might pull this off!”

Tatsuya nodded in agreement. It was a good plan.

“I’m in!” shouted Lisa.

“ARLIGHT! On my mark… Now!”

The three of them summoned their Personas together, casting their spells at once. Rhadamanthus was laughing as the colliding spells created a vortex of scalding water hot enough to peel off skin. Joker shrugged it off.

“A Fusion Spell… A laudable idea, but it’s much too weak. You’ll never beat me with such a paltry offense.”

And as if to prove his words, he summoned his Persona.

It was _wrong_. Its black and white form was skinny and gangly and monstrous, its limbs clawed and twisted in all the wrong angles, its single eye shedding tears and three stakes driven deep in its heart.

Tatsuya could feel this… _miasma_ like an _infection_ coming from it…

“Eikichi Mishina… Lisa Silverman… And you, the Thief… It’s time you died! You cannot escape the wheel of fortune!”

The Persona spread its arms wide open, casting its spell.

_Unseasonable Bloom._

Violent winds that cut like blades rose, with flower petals scattered through. Tatsuya felt the impact in his mind as much as in his body, like the wind set it on fire. His mind dazzled and his vision was blurred.

“It seems you resist it, at least to some degree…”

Next thing he knew, an arm had grabbed him by the throat. Tatsuya struggled to breathe but Joker _lifted him off the ground_ and the air would go neither in or out. His eyes teared up and he grabbed the arm but it would not budge.

_I have… to LIVE… He CAN’T get away…_

“Those eyes… You haven’t changed. What kind of dreams did you build on the corpses of other people’s ideals?”

“…wh-what… are you…?”

Joker _spat._ “The poker face doesn’t fool me. I know. You wanted to follow your dream… Isn’t that so?”

That was… his conversation with Miss Saeko!? How did he know about that!?

A chuckle left him. Then another. Joker was laughing maniacally like it was the best joke he ever heard. “I’ll never let your dreams come true! You should know by now… why I came to you all today!”

“What the hell are you talking about…?”

Eikichi! Where was he!? He could not see…

“Wh-What…?”

Lisa… She was fine…

“What did we ever do to you?”

For a second Joker stared between the three of them, trying to make sense of what they were saying. The only sound was Kozy’s quiet cries in the back. Even through his unnatural mask, Tatsuya could sense all his glee and bravado vanishing. The Joker freed his hold off his throat, tossing him away.

Tatsuya gasped, a surge of pain coming with every breath.

“No…”

Joker sounded so… _lost._ Like they had thrown a wrench to every single one of his plans.

“Do you not remember!?”

_…Remember… Again, those words…_ Joker, and Philemon, they kept talking about it…

“Impossible! This can’t be… How could this happen!?” To their astonishment, Joker fell on his knees clutching his head. “What meaning is there in killing you if you do not remember!?”

He slowly regained his composure, and stood up again. “You escaped your fate this time…” He was… subdued. Strangely so. “But you will get no rest. My demons will be your assassins.”

Much like with the crystal skull before, Joker pulled another object out of nowhere; a flower, with delicate and pluming yellow petals.

“Let this Iris be my testament…” He sniffed at it before tossing it on the floor before them. “Now go, and remember the sins you have committed! Then I will claim my revenge!”

And so he vanished, in the portal of darkness and lightning, exactly as he had arrived.

All was quiet again.

Tatsuya picked the Iris from the flour, taking it in. Such a beautiful and delicate flower… It was important. Somehow, it was very important. He put special care in tucking it away, putting it in the pocket of his uniform shirt under the jacket, careful not to mess with the petals.

“I’m sorry, Ken… If I hadn’t made you play the game…”

Eikichi was standing before one of his friends, who was blackened out and immobile. As if the last few minutes – was it really only minutes? – had never happened. Like nothing mattered anymore.

He was crying. Tatsuya and Lisa hung their heads with him. These guys were willing to risk their skin for Eikichi’s dream, and now…

“Um… Who is Eikichi-ku – I mean, Boss-san talking to?”

The three glanced at Kozy. She was scared, but she appeared to be… _perplexed?_

Oh no. _NO._

“They’ve really been forgotten…”

Eikichi was trying to shake his friend from the shoulders. “Ken… You were going to be a boxing champ, right…? I was gonna cut a cool theme song for you… Come on man, say something…”

“My… dream…? I don’t care anymore… It’s not like it’ll…”

“I wanted… to be a doctor… But that’ll never happen… I don’t want to think anymore…”

“I have to… take over the family business… But… why…?”

The Personas were resonating with Eikichi’s; it was _crying._

“I’m sorry… And after I promised…! If only I hadn’t made you do that… Dammit!”

_Maybe… I should leave him be…_

God, he and Lisa had only come to get Kozy back. How did it go so wrong!?

“Tatsuya…”

“Lisa.” He winced. His throat was still hurt. His attempt to talk made it flare up.

“Are you alright? Your voice is all croacked…”

“Um, here.”

Kozy appeared out of nowhere and offered him a bottle of water. “We had ordered these with the pizzas… We did not drink from them, so it should be fine…”

Tatsuya nodded his thanks and took a few grateful gulps. It still hurt, but the water made it better.

“Um, Kozy?” asked Lisa. “By “we” you mean…?”

“Ei—Boss-san and I. He only ate the salad on the side…”

So she had completely forgotten about the other guys – no. Their names were Ken, Shogo and Takeshi. Ken was the guy with the dyed hair who wanted to be a boxer. Shogo was the average-looking one who had to inherit the family business. And Takeshi was the fat one who wanted to be a doctor. They went out of their way to recruit him to Eikichi’s band. He had to remember them. Them, at the very least, he had to remember.

“I can’t believe the Joker is real…” Lisa was just- lost. As much as the rest of them. “But why does he want revenge on us?”

Tatsuya had no answers. He was no saint, and neither was Eikichi, but he doubted they had done anything to like _that._

He had to leave. He had to find this guy and wring answers out of him.

He rushed to the door, but he barely reached the stairs before Eikichi stopped him.

“Wait a sec, Suou… You’re going after that guy, right? You should stay out of this. I’ll deal with him.”

Tatsuya was about to open his mouth and argue but Lisa beat him to the punch.

“Whoa there, both of you! You’re up against a real monster here! If we don’t stick together, you’ll die! Plus, we don’t know where to start looking. Let’s get someone else to do something about him – like the police!”

Oh, sure. He would have a blast trying to explain THIS to his brother. Some asshole tried to kill me for something I didn’t do again, no brother he’s NOT in the hospital, I don’t know where he is, oh and there was thing gang boss from the reform school there with me, you can ask him…

Eikichi was of the same mind. “Who’d believe us!? We gotta arm up and kill that guy, or we’re all screwed.”

Kill him…? As much as he hated to admit it…

Tatsuya flicked his lighter.

“If that’s the case, maybe I can help…”

Kozy?

“I’ll go see what I can find out about Joker. While I do that, you should prepare to defend yourselves… We don’t know when he’ll show up again…”

The three exchanged glances. It was the best plan they had yet, honestly.

“That reminds me…” she continued “Rumor has it that the ramen shop in Kameya Alley sells weapons… Something about the owner being a former KGB spy… With everything that’s going on, why not start there?”

“If rumors are coming true, it’s worth a shot…” said Lisa. “Having just our Personas makes me nervous, so to the ramen shop it is! We’ll be safer if we stick close! C’mon Tatsuya. Let’s chase him down together, okay?”

Eikichi let a heavy sigh. “She’s got a point… We don’t stand a chance against him yet. We’ve both been called out on a grudge we know nothing about. Let’s call a truce until that guy’s out of the picture.”

So they were both in it. Tatsuya had never gotten in a fight with people on _his_ side before. However, having those two with him… “Let’s do it.”

“The ramen shop’s got to be Shiraishi Ramen. Wait for me to grab my bag, I’ll show you the way.”

As Eikichi went in the back to gather his stuff, Kozy came close to the two of them.

“Umm… About my real name… Could you keep it a secret from Boss-san? Please…”

Huh?

Lisa blinked in surprise. “S-Sure. No problem, right Tatsuya?” He nodded.

She visibly relaxed. “Thank you…”

“Where are you going now?” he asked her.

“I’ll catch the train to get back to school. There are many students saying they had their ideals granted by Joker… Maybe one of them will know something.”

That sounded as good as anything.

“It’s better than nothing” agreed Lisa.

“I’ll be going then. Oh, can I get your numbers? I’ll call you as soon as possible.”

“Sure, let’s do that.”

As Lisa and Kozy exchanged numbers, Eikichi showed up with a leather bag in tow. “Alright, I’m ready. Let’s get going.”

“Is it far?” asked Tatsuya. “My bike is outside.”

“A bicycle?”

“No, a motorcycle.”

“Oh. I can bring it in here, for now. I’ll lock this place up.”

“Thanks.”

The four of them headed outside. Kozy ran off to catch the train, while Tatsuya brought his bike inside, trying not to scratch the paint on the narrow metal door. Once he was done, Eikichi unveiled an

ancient-looking key and locked the place up.

“Shiraishi Ramen is just down the shopping district. It’s just five minutes on foot.”

Suddenly, Tatsuya’s cell rang. The others startled.

“Is it the Joker!?”

Tatsuya checked the caller ID. “No, it’s my boss…”

With all that had happened, he had completely forgotten about his part-time job.

“Hello, boss.”

_“Suou, where are you? You’re never this late and there’s that car I need you to start working on, they want it done by eight.”_

Tatsuya winced. “Sorry, but… something came up. It’s urgent. I can’t come today. Or… maybe tomorrow.”

_“What!? I thought you practically lived here? In the_ workshop _?”_

“I’m sorry, but… I’ll be busy.”

Very, _very_ busy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this chapter was a mood whiplash. On the one hand Tatsuya is his broody self and the universe throws slapstick humor on his face - and he's not so above it all, and suddenly it all goes WRONG.
> 
> I hope I got the humor part right, at the very least. I haven't really written humor before, so I wouldn't call myself an expert in it. I'm also starting to feel that dialogue isn't quite my strong point...
> 
> Some of Tatsuya's comments come from Tatsuya's Scenario (you can google Tatsuya Scenario translation, there's a tumblr page that translates the whole thing). Stuff like what normally happens when you call your own cell, or how he calls Joker's Persona "an infection".  
> For that matter, Joker's persona. An avatar of an eldritch abomination that symbolizes his grief? Hell yeah, it feels wrong. I tried to convey that to the best of my ability, but it's far too early for full-blown cosmic horror.
> 
> I also threw in a sparse few elements from other sources, like the World Book and the PSX fan translation. That's where I took the info for Tatsuya's part-time job (mechanic) or the incident with the high-schoolers which I'll clarify later. That's also why Eikichi calls Tatsuya "Suou" and not by his name. Normally, Tatsuya would call him "Mishina", but it felt wrong so I kept the English version.
> 
> I hope you enjoyed this one! Can't wait for your comments. So please...  
> Read and Review!


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